The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.” – William Jennings Bryan

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — May 8, 2022

May 8th is the birthday of missionary and U.S. military intelligence officer John Birch. (Born, 1918, died August 25, 1945.) He is considered by many to be the first American casualty of the Cold War.

This is also the birthday of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek.

And today is the 77th anniversary of VE Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging

Signs Of The Times – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.)

Vasili Arkhipov prevented TEOTWAWKI — During the Cuban Missile Crisis one single man, a Russian submariner named Vasili Arkhipov, prevented the use of nuclear torpedoes against an American warship which likely would have touched off a nuclear war between our two countries, a position our own government willingly put us into by refusing Russia’s request to remove our missiles from their border. Three officers on board that Russian sub were required to authorize the use of nukes and Vasili stood alone in refusing to consent. Most historians refer to this event as the most dangerous moment in human history. If Putin gets his back up against the wall, will there be another Vasili Arkhipov in the room to prevent the next Shot Heard Round the World? How close are we to the next most dangerous moment in human history? Putin has already warned on multiple occasions that if the West interferes there will be “consequences greater than any you’ve faced in history,” and yet we just keep at it, begging for him to sh*t or get off the pot. Too many Americans are stuck in normalcy bias and willing to risk everything we hold dear for a war that will benefit us nothing, acting as if this were just a Sunday afternoon football game on the telly.

Putin was the head of the KGB for many years so he’s not a dumb cluck. His highest interest is in protecting his country against all enemies foreign and domestic at any cost, including protecting his borders from NATO atomic weapons. He knows the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis and just how far the US government is willing to go even at the risk of nuclear war as they did in 1962.Continue reading“Signs Of The Times – Part 4, by St. Funogas”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.“- Colossians 1:9-29 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 7, 2022

On May 7, 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England. This was the first of three patents that he would receive for the explosive.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging

 

Signs Of The Times – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.)

False Flag Events

Do an honest study of American false flag events beginning with the Lusitania, the Maine, Operation Dirty Trick, and blowing up one of our own warships in Guantanamo Bay to discredit Cuba in order to manipulate the public into backing a war against them. Most importantly read the 15-page Operation Northwoods document. The Lusitania and Maine operations had the primary purpose of benefitting larger corporations and wealthy individuals in the case of the Maine, to steal land from others for the purpose of empire expansion. I’ll give the Joint Chiefs the benefit of the doubt on their proposed Cuban false flags and say that they may have honestly felt they were necessary even though hindsight shows they weren’t. But it doesn’t change the facts: US false flag attacks are part of standard government procedure. They use our emotions against us to dupe us into changing our resistance into acceptance of going along with their plans which never actually benefit We the People.

Cui bono? Who benefits? – When trying to narrow down a list of suspects, detectives ask, “Cui bono? Who benefits?” Who did the sinking of the Lusitania benefit? JP Morgan and other large banks who held millions of dollars in British bonds which would become worthless if Britain lost WW I. JP Morgan and other banks made billions of dollars from war profiteering once the US did enter the war. We the People benefited nothing and our boys again became cannon fodder for the wealthy. Who did the Maine benefit? Those in government and various billionaires who wanted all of Spain’s possessions and territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and most importantly the Philippines. Guam was necessary to island hop our way across the Pacific to overthrow the Japanese Empire when the time came. The Philippines (who had “The United States of America” on their coins until 1945) provided a large enough landmass to construct large military bases within striking distance of Japan. We the People gained nothing from the Spanish American War but again, our boys gave their lives for the wealthy who wanted to expand the American Empire across the Pacific for their own personal greed and benefit, not ours. We overthrew the peaceful kingdom of Hawaii a few years before the Spanish American War for the same purpose of island hopping our way to Japan and using our Hawaiian military bases to move the American fleet 2,500 miles closer to Asia.Continue reading“Signs Of The Times – Part 3, by St. Funogas”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

I have two new memes for you, this week. One posted today, and one on Sunday

The latest meme created by JWR:

To share this, you can find it here: https://www.kapwing.com/videos/62730ea748db000058ecd22f


Meme Text:

The New Disinformation Governance Board (DGB)

A Lot Like The Old KGB, Except With Trendy TikTok Musical Numbers


Links:

DHS Creates “Disinformation Governance Board” Resembling Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth”

DGB Director Nina Jankowicz Sings on TikTok.

KGB Fifth Directorate.

Satire: U.S. Ministry of Truth Interrogates Man Who Shared Misinformation.

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

We had some great fun on hikes quite close to our ranch. We have millions of acres of National Forest lands that stretch out in all directions. The Forest Service roads are very lightly traveled, and the trails even less so.  And as for “boonie crashing”, when we go off-trail up steep forested hillsides, it is safe to assume that we sometimes tread where literally no human has ever placed their feet before. That may sound like an exaggeration, but unless you’ve been to our corner of the Redoubt, it is hard to picture just how lightly-populated it is.

I had a dental appointment and had to make one other trip to town, but otherwise we’ve mainly been here at the ranch. The pastures are greening up, but we are still feeding the cattle, horses, and sheep a bit of our remaining stack of Timothy hay. We’ve been enjoying beautiful “pre-mosquito” spring weather.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.” – Leviticus 26 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 6, 2022

May 6th is the birthday of Tuvia Bielski. (Born 1906, died 1987.) You may remember him as the main character in the movie Defiance. This movie was based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging

Signs Of The Times – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.)

Ukraine corruption — When it comes to the Russia sanctions the only conclusion I can come to is that things, as always, are not as they appear and we’re all being played by the PTB who run the world. The one certainty is that the sanctions have nothing to do with world leaders feeling sorry for Ukraine, but rather, they’re not letting a good crisis go to waste or an opportunity to punish Russia. Only six months ago they were calling Ukraine’s government corrupt and evil, ranking in the bottom third of the corruption scale compiled by Transparency International due to things like genocide between 2014 and 2021. Now, premises based on the Gates/Soros/Bilderberger theories start making a lot more sense. The uber-wealthy are conspirators by nature and with their billions have far more influence over world events and pushing their agenda that doesn’t bode well for any of us. They also have the means and the patience to pull off that agenda and the Ukraine “crisis” is no exception.

If we believe that Soros/Gates and the Bilderberger crowd are intent on bringing about a New World Order, a Big Reset, or any other freedom-quashing agenda, why would the war in Ukraine be anything more than the most current crisis they’re taking advantage of in order to achieve their ends by appealing to our emotions?

Pearl Harbor – We’ve heard the war slogan “Remember Pearl Harbor!” all our lives. How many of us have asked ourselves why a tiny country like Japan came 4,000 miles across the Pacific to pick on a huge country like the United States who had a much superior military? What about that could possibly make sense? We see ourselves as the victims, 3,000 of our boys died there for no good reason. Why would Japan do that? Very few have checked our premises by digging into the details. The PTB excel at taking advantage of our ignorance of history.Continue reading“Signs Of The Times – Part 2, by St. Funogas”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate move. (See the Economy & Finance  section.)

Precious Metals:

The platinum to gold ratio is now outrageously out-of-whack.  When I checked on Thursday afternoon, spot gold was at $1,876.10 per Troy ounce, and meanwhile platinum was at just $977. Yikes! That is nearly a 2-to-1 ratio. Hmmm… If you’ve been considering buying gold during the current dip, then please re-consider. My advice is to buy platinum, instead!   Traditionally, platinum has sold for more per ounce than gold. The pricing might not fully revert, but anywhere below 1.5-to-1 makes platinum a bargain. – JWR

o  o  o

An audio interview: Bill Holter: Gold-backed Ruble set to leave PetroDollar behind.

o  o  o

Analysts At Goldman Sachs Are At It Again.

Economy & Finance:

On Thursday — just a day after a 900+ point rally — we read: Dow tumbles 1,000 points, Nasdaq loses nearly 5% in worst day of the year for stocks. Update, Friday AM: Dow drops 200 points as stocks extend losses from Thursday’s sell-off.

o  o  o

It is official: FOMC statement from the May 2022 meeting: Fed hikes by 50bps. JWR’s Comment:  The jawboning has ended. Tightening has begun. Probably too little, too late, so what we’ll see is stagflation.  Now the banksters can reap the whirlwind.

Ford loses $3.1 billion, hit by investment and chip shortage.

o  o  o

Charles Hugh Smith: Not the 1970s or the 1920s: We’re in Uncharted Territory.

o  o  o

It Just Doesn’t Let Up: Lyft Plunges 26% Afterhours, Down 74% from the Hype-and-Hoopla Trade out the IPO Gate.

o  o  o

US Trade Deficit Explodes To Record High In March.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“What are the marks of a sick culture? It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn’t the whole population. A very bad sign. Particularism. It was once considered a Spanish vice but any country can fall sick with it. Dominance of males over females seems to be one of the symptoms. Before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts. High taxation is important and so is inflation of the currency and the ratio of the productive to those on the public payroll. But that’s old hat; everybody knows that a country is on the skids when its income and outgo get out of balance and stay that way – even though there are always endless attempts to wish it way by legislation. But I started looking for little signs and what some call silly-season symptoms. I want to mention one of the obvious symptoms: Violence. Muggings. Sniping. Arson. Bombing. Terrorism of any sort.” – Robert A. Heinlein, in his novel Friday

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 5, 2022

This is the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by alcoholism, but his writing is admired and still surprisingly popular, today. (Alas, Babylon is still in print, after 63 years!) As an homage to Pat Frank, one of the settings in my novel Expatriates is Mt. Dora, Florida, which was fictionalized by Pat Frank as “Fort Repose” in Alas, Babylon.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 100 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging

Signs Of The Times – Part 1, by St. Funogas

Since we’re as close as we’ve been in the past 50 years to the possibility of not only WW III, but the nuclear war we’ve all feared since Hiroshima and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the time seems urgent for all Americans to get out of our normalcy bias and start prepping, and for current preppers to kick it up a notch or two. Or three.

This article has been edited many times and has been in and out of my “Do Not Submit” folder at least seven times. While many SurvivalBlog articles are preaching to the choir of us like-minded ones who already understand the prudence of prepping, some of my thoughts and comments over the past few years have been preaching to the duet in the little-used Sunday School room tucked away in the church basement between the furnace and the storage room. I can only hope it finds a wider audience in these most perilous of times in May, 2022 as we stand on the probable brink of WW III.

Tribalism

As I’ve studied and thought about tribalism over the years, I finally concluded that tribalism is biggest cause of Mankind’s woes in the world today and throughout history.

The effect of tribalism is that the more groups (“tribes”) we align ourselves with, the more we subconsciously conform our opinions to those groups in order to maintain our good standing within the tribe. In mankind’s early days, we’d gladly help toss virgins into volcanoes to appease the lava gods even if we thought it was pure bravo sierra. Going along with the tribe was far more important to our survival than verbalizing the truth that virgins can’t stop volcanoes from erupting. Throughout Mankind’s history, tribe has trumped truth.

Our brains have advanced very little since cavemen/Adam. We’re not any smarter, we just have more technology that has accumulated piece by piece building upon what previous generations had discovered. Today’s technological improvements all began with the ancients learning how to make and harness the power of fire, the same fire without which our society could never have progressed to this point and which all our current technologies are dependent upon whether directly or indirectly.Continue reading“Signs Of The Times – Part 1, by St. Funogas”